What is a hellbender? And why do they want to protect it?

The hellbender has hit the headlines again recently as legislators move to make it Pennsylvania’s official state amphibian. Here’s a look at the animal and the reason some want to elevate it to special status in Pennsylvania.

The eastern hellbender is the Americas’ largest salamander. It can reach 12-29 inches in length and weigh as much as 5 pounds at maturity.

It has a large, flattened body with thick folds of skin running along its sides, a single open gill slit on each side, short legs with 4 toes on the front legs and 5 on the back, and a keeled tail, which is used for propulsion.

It is generally thought that the hellbender was named for its appearance. One theory holds that the first Europeans to see the North American amphibian thought it was “a creature from hell, where it’s bent on returning.” Another theory has European settlers seeing the undulating skin of the hellbender and being reminded of the “horrible tortures of the infernal regions.”

Other common names for the animal are Allegheny alligator, devil dog, grampus, lasagna lizard, Leverian water newt, mud devil, mud dog, snot otter and water dog.

Although there is a subspecies – the Ozark hellbender – the species is the only member of the genus Cryptobranchus and one of just three species in the family Cryptobranchidae, which also includes the Chinese and Japanese giant salamanders.

Those are the 3 largest living amphibians, with the American giant ranking No. 3.

Hellbenders have lungs, but they are mostly non-functional, vestigial organs. They absorb as much as 95 percent of their oxygen through their skin, mostly through the folds and wrinkles along its side.